Karen David

Karen David
Karen in Cape Town, South Africa. Photo: Ilze Kitshoff
Background information
Birth name	Karen Shenaz David
Born	Shillong, India
Genres	Pop
Occupations	Actress, singer, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1999–present
Labels	AWAL
Website	http://www.karendavid.com

Karen Shenaz David is a Canadian-British actress, singer and songwriter, who is best known for portraying Francesca "Cesca" Montoya (Francesca "Cesca" Kirby) in the BBC television series, Waterloo Road, and Layla in the American action film, The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior.

Karen currently stars in Pixelface, a CBBC children's television series, where she plays Alexia, the glamorous legend hunter.

She is next to be seen starring as Kayla Graham in the new Fox television series Touch, alongside Kiefer Sutherland and Danny Glover. A special one-hour preview episode aired on January 25, 2012, on Fox in North America and on Global Television in Canada.

"Three Little Birds", as sung by Kayla Graham (Karen David) in Touch, was released as a soundtrack single, with Wendy and Lisa, on iTunes by 20th Century Fox TV Records on February 28, 2012.

Career

Early years

At age 17, Karen won a scholarship to the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston where she studied jazz and gospel. It was here that she discovered a flair for songwriting. A few years later, Karen moved to London to study at the Guildford School of Acting.

Acting

1999-2005

At age 20, upon finishing drama school, Benny Anderson immediately asked Karen to join the original cast of Mamma Mia! (a West End hit musical). This was her professional acting debut as part of the ‘glorified ensemble’ and understudy of Ali and Lisa. The show was based on a series of songs by ABBA, a hugely successful Swedish pop/dance group from 1972 - 1982. A. R. Rahman was invited to see the show by the director Shekhar Kapur, which then opened new doors for Karen. He asked her to assist himself and Don Black in the development of the material for Bombay Dreams (a Bollywood-themed musical). She was rewarded with an invitation to perform some of the songs on stage in his highly acclaimed sell-out US and Canada tour. This was the beginning of a strong friendship which lead to them writing and recording a wide range of material together at his Panchathan Record Inn and AM Studios in Chennai, India.

Karen appeared in two short television videos, Dancers: The Trailer (2002), playing the role of Jenny and The Paper Round (2002), playing the role of a police woman. She then landed a role in Bollywood Queen (2003), which is also referred to as an Indian take on Romeo and Juliet. The musical is about an Indian teenage girl called Geena, a kind, well-behaved daughter who is, however, also a British woman who dreams to make it big with the R'n'B girlband she has formed with her two best friends, Anjali and Neeta (played by Karen).

In 2003, Karen made a one-off guest appearance on Holby City "Oedipus Wrecks" as Eve Hotton, an underweight pregnant woman. Through the years of 2004 and 2005, she landed the role of Scarlet in MTV’s Top Buzzer, also on Channel 5. This was the first ‘dope opera’ produced and consisted of ten episodes (one series). The programme was about two drug dealers and their various clients.

She next appeared in Batman Begins (2005), as Courthouse Reporter #1. Batman Begins is an American superhero action film based on the fictional DC Comics character Batman.

2006-2009

Karen as 'Layla'; the female lead in the American hit, action-film, The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior.

Karen's first role of 2006 was Lyla; a main character in Take 3 Girls (2006). Take 3 Girls is a London-based film about three girls who share a dream; making something of their lives through music. Lyla is a beautiful Indian girl, who has the voice of an angel. The three girls form a band and, together, with the help of a failed businessman and his wife, follow their dream and turn it into reality.

Karen was given a supporting cameo in the hard-hitting movie Provoked (2006) as Asha, one of three South Asian social workers who are running an under-funded organisation called "Southall Black Sisters." This organisation supports abused women. During this film, Karen worked alongside the likes of Aishwarya Rai, Naveen Andrews, Miranda Richardson and Robbie Coltrane, which brought her into contact with major players in the Bollywood film industry.

She also appeared in several feature films, including Steven Seagal's Flight of Fury (2007) as Barnes' Operational Soldier Flanders, The Colour of Magic (2008) as the warrior princess, Liessa the Dragonlady, where she was filming alongside Sir David Jason, Sean Astin, Tim Curry and Jeremy Irons, in the SKY TV movie adaptation of the Terry Pratchett novel, as well as The Legend of Dick and Dom (2009) as Fairy Frampton and Couples Retreat as the Spa Attendant.

Karen appeared as the female lead in The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior (2008), in Cape Town, South Africa, where she played the beautiful and feisty Layla, who wants more than anything to be a Warrior. She proves she can fight her own battles when she embarks on a trip to Egypt with Mathayus to avenge his father's death..

2010-present

Karen as 'Francesca "Cesca" Montoya' in BBC1's, BAFTA nominated, award-winning drama, Waterloo Road.

September 2010 brought Karen back to our screens in Series 6 of BBC One’s award winning drama, Waterloo Road. She played the much loved sassy Spanish Teacher, Francesca "Cesca" Montoya. Cesca was known for her stunning looks, new-age ways of teaching and her confidence in the classroom. In Part 2 of Series 6, Cesca landed herself in hot water when she developed feelings for her A-Level Spanish student, Jonah Kirby. As their forbidden relationship progressed, senior staff members found out, which made it impossible for Cesca not to come clean. However, Cesca and Jonah were not prepared to give up on one another; Episode 20 saw them tie the knot at Gretna Green - although the happiness was short-lived when police officers turned up at the scene to arrest Cesca. The series ended with Cesca and Jonah being taken away in separate police cars.

Whilst Waterloo Road was still airing, Pixelface (a new CBBC children's comedy series produced by Graham Norton’s company, So Television) started in mid February. Karen landed the role of the glamorous Legend Hunter, Alexia Alderton – a Lara Croft type character. The programme is centred around six video game characters and what they do when they are not inside their games. Series one has now ended and the repeats are being shown every Saturday at 8:05am on BBC2. The second series of Pixelface began airing on Jan 3, 2012. It is on every Tuesday at 4:30pm.

In 2011, Karen appeared as a flirtatious barmaid in Strike Back: Project Dawn, a 10 part action television series by Sky. The cast included Sullivan Stapleton, Richard Armitage and Philip Winchester. The series follows the actions of Section 20, a secret branch of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), particularly two of its officers, Michael Stonebridge (Winchester) and former American Delta Force operative Damian Scott (Stapleton).

The new Fox television series Touch will bring Karen back to our screens in 2012 with a recurring role as Kayla Graham. She will be working alongside well-known Hollywood actors such as Kiefer Sutherland and Danny Glover. The programme is centred on a 10 year old mute, autistic boy who can only communicate through sequences and numbers and who develops the ability to predict the future of people's lives - including Kayla Graham's. Kayla is a London girl with huge aspirations to be a singer. She follows a boy to Dublin for love, however it doesn't work out and she is left with no money and nowhere to go. This leads to Kayla taking a job at a call centre. Karen was delighted with her role in Touch as it involves both acting and singing. Touch will begin to air in March 2012, however a special one-hour preview aired on January 25, 2012, on Fox in North America and on Global Television in Canada.

Music

2000-2004

In the past, Karen has worked with acclaimed producers such as A.R. Rahman, Johnny Douglas, Gil Cang, Rob Wells and the Bombay Dub Orchestra.

Karen was the lead vocalist in Dutch dance musician/producer DJ Jurgen's single "Higher and Higher", which she recorded at the start of her music career in 2000.

She released her first single "It's Me (You're Talking To)" in 2003, when she was signed to BMG Music. This single was a top 10 airplay hit in three different countries - Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

2005-2009

Karen collaborated with A R Rahman on the main theme song for the film Provoked in 2006. After working alongside Rahman to produce the soundtrack for this movie, Karen found herself back with him in his Chennai studio, in 2007, to write and record the powerful song, "Alive". This theme song captures the essence of the infamous story of the abused woman, Kiranjit Ahluwalia, who refused to be defeated.

April 14, 2008 saw Karen release her first EP (more than one song but not enough to make an album), The Live Sessions EP. It included five songs and one bonus track, these are - "Magic Carpet Ride", "Carry Me Home", "All I Need", "Pink Glasses" and "Shillong, Shillong", with the bonus track being an instrumental version of "All I Need".

On June 29, 2009, Karen released her Magic Carpet Ride EP, along with a further four mixes. The four mixes were entitled, "A Nucleya Mix", "Johnny Douglas Radio Mix", "The Pathaan Flying Mix2" and "DJ Shadow Dubai & DJ Dev Remix". The EP included, "Flip and Spin Flavasia Desi", "Urban Mix", "Flip and Spin Upfront DJ Mix" and "Flip and Spin DJ Club Mix". All of these songs can be found on iTunes.

2010-present

Karen's upcoming EP - Three Little Birds. Photo: Christian Marot

May 24, 2010, saw Karen release popular single "Hypnotize", along with three mixes and a Hypnotize Desi Mix EP. The three mixes were, "Tripnotize", "Radio Version" and "Niros Mix" and the Desi Mix EP included, "Radio Version", "Tripnotize" and "The Stranger Mix". All versions of "Hypnotize" can be found on iTunes. Her "Hypnotize" music video was released in April 2010.

Karen recorded songs for her new music concept The Girl In The Pink Glasses, in 2011. She has uploaded snippets of them onto her facebook bandpage. These songs are called, "Push", "Superheroes", "My Inner Freak", "Tom, Dick or Harry", "Catch Me If You Can", "Chinese Whispers", "Pinky Square" and "Slow Motion". Karen released "Superheroes" on June 6, 2011, due to popular demand by her loyal fan base , however the rest have yet to be released.

Karen is currently in the studio working with songwriter-producers, Greg Wells, Carl Ryden, Boots Ottestad, Adam Argyle and Martin Brammer, on her next EP, entitled Three Little Birds, to be internationally released around Spring.

Charity work

Karen has kindly been active in raising funds for Breast Cancer Awareness. She did a fashion show for London Fashion Week at The Dorchester Hotel a few years back, to raise money for this.

In early December, 2010, Karen thoughtfully and successfully released a charity Christmas EP, entitled My Christmas List, in order to raise money for the housing and homelessness charity, Shelter. This EP included cover songs of "Silent Night", "Baby, It's Cold Outside", "Grown Up Christmas" and "Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire".

Karen's most recent charity work is to raise awareness for SOS Children's Village Foundation and The Prince's Trust.

Personal life

Karen was born in Shillong, Meghalaya, in North Eastern India, before she moved to Toronto, Canada, with her family and subsequently to London, England.

She is a Canadian and British citizen. Shillong is one of the few remaining matriarchal societies left in the world.

Roles and appearances

Films

Year	Title	Character Role
2003	Bollywood Queen	Neeta
2005	Batman Begins	Courthouse Reporter #1
2006	Provoked	Asha
2006	Take 3 Girls	Lyla
2007	Flight of Fury	Barnes' Operational Soldier Flanders
2008	The Colour of Magic	Liessa
2008	The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior	Layla
2009	Couples Retreat	Spa Attendant
2012	Red Lights	Dana

Television series

Year	Title	Character Role
2003	Holby City "Oedipus Wrecks"	Eve Hotton
2004 - 2005	Top Buzzer	Scarlet
2006	Desi DNA (episode dated April 5, 2006)	Herself
2009	The Legend of Dick and Dom "Mists of Time"	Fairy Frampton
2010	Waterloo Road	Francesca 'Cesca' Montoya (Francesca 'Cesca' Kirby)
2011	Pixelface	Alexia/Alexia Alderton
2011	Strike Back: Project Dawn	Barmaid
2012	Touch	Kayla Graham

TV/video shorts

Year	Title	Character Role
2002	Dancers: The Trailer	Jenny
2002	The Paper Round	Police Woman

Other

Year	Title	Character Role
2003	The Making of Bollywood Queen (video documentary)	Herself
2005	Eureka (commercial)
2008	The Making of The Scorpion King 2: The Rise of a Warrior (video documentary short)	Herself

Music videos and live performances

Music videos

Date	Song Title
Jun 2011	Superheroes  on YouTube
Apr 2010	Hypnotize  on YouTube
Jun 2009	Magic Carpet Ride  on YouTube
Jun 2007	Alive  on YouTube
2003	It's Me (You're Talking To)  on YouTube
2000	Higher and Higher  on YouTube

Remixes/radio edits

Year	Song Title
Sep 2010	Hypnotize : The Almighty Mix   on YouTube
Sep 2010	Hypnotize : The Definitive Radio Mix  on YouTube
Jul 2009	Magic Carpet Ride : Flavasia Desi Mix  on YouTube
Jul 2009	Magic Carpet Ride : Radio edit  on YouTube

Live performances

Date	Song Title	Location
Jun 7, 2011	Superheroes  on YouTube	Soho Theatre London
Jun 7, 2011	Slow Motion  on YouTube	Soho Theatre London
Jun 7, 2011	Pinky Square  on YouTube	Soho Theatre London
Jun 7, 2011	Tom, Dick or Harry  on YouTube	Soho Theatre London
Jun 7, 2011	Chinese Whispers  on YouTube	Soho Theatre London
Mar 31, 2011	Superheroes	The London Canal Cafe
Nov 30, 2010	Pink Glasses  on YouTube	Rich Mix London
Nov 30, 2010	Hypnotize  on YouTube	Rich Mix London
May 30, 2010	Hypnotize	Indig02 Arena
Jun 1, 2008	Pink Glasses  on YouTube	Wychwood Festival
Jan, 2008	Magic Carpet Ride  on YouTube	Royal Festival Hall

Behind-the-scenes

Date	Song Title
Dec, 2010	Silent Night (ft. Navin Kundra)  on YouTube
Dec, 2010	Baby It's Cold Outside (ft. Philip Martin Brown)  on YouTube
Apr, 2010	Hypnotize  on YouTube
May, 2009	Magic Carpet Ride  on YouTube
Mar, 2009	The Chennai Sessions  on YouTube

External links

• Official website
• Karen David at the Internet Movie Database
• Karen David on Facebook
• Karen David on Twitter
• Touch-"Three Little Birds" on YouTube
• Etobicoke Guardian Interview